Kamen Rider Knightmares
A short story based on a dream. Synopsis A transformed victim of the Rider System experiments tracks down a device that may be able to restore his humanity. Standing in his way is the organization that abandoned him and the bearers of the perfected system. Characters * Kamen Rider Vream: The Kaijin who hopes to reclaim his humanity, by any means necessary. * Kamen Rider Reap: The rider that stands in Vream's way to his lost humanity. * Kamen Rider Lucid: Companion and subordinate to Reap. * Prf. Somnicco: Creator of the Harvest system that acquires Dream Matter. High ranking member of SEER. The Beginning His dream was about pain, a memory he could not forget. He was strapped down to the operating table as men in white cloaks and veils hiding their faces, cut him open. The poked, the prodded, they fiddled about and inserted something into him. In the end, he scream and changed, freeing himself from his bond via hysterical strength. His body morphed, his human form covered in thick green chitin, his human eyes replaced by large yellow almond lights. His inhuman mouth screamed as the changed continue, his armor becoming, thicker, denser and cracked, his muscles expanded and everything paused. On to the scene walked a stranger, a young man with red hair with streaks of gold.He had brown skin, golden eyes, glowing against the fuzzy background of the dream. He wore a brown jacket over a grey shirt, and blue jeans, and brown boots. Around his shoulders and hiding the lower half of his face, was overly long red scarf. "Humans..." said the stranger "such arrogant and petty things. So pompous are they. They like to think they can do nothing wrong... 'for humanity', the 'human spirit is unbreakable', 'mankind's potential is unlimited'!...Such nonsense." He turned tot he viewer. "Look at this, in the name of progressing 'humanity', they are so quick to throw away their own...or in your case rip it from you. For all their boast, across so many worlds, few truly understand how precious it is. Kindness, mercy, forgiveness. Do you think they deserve, it if they won't give it to you...? Their victim? You want it back don't you, your humanity, your life, your face...No, 'I' won't give it to you, but you can get it. They 'perfected' their little system, the one that turned you into this...nightmare'. Acquire it...use it...and your humanity will be yours again....Why? I do this because you deserve, because they stepped across the line, and because 'they' wished to be amused... No you don't need to understand that, just know, you getting what you want, suits me and my agenda. Now...you know where it is now...Now...GO!" Red light flashed from his eyes. The creature exploded out of the undergrowth, beneath the dirt and layers of fallen leaves. His form was humanoid, with black clawed fingers and toes. Plate of purple chitin covered his darkened form, they were thick and bore cracks, while his form underneath was muscular. His helmet sported to red almond shaped lights for eyes, and a red jewel was in his gut glowing red and angry with power. He roared, revealing an inhuman mouth of large fangs, and then it hit him, a vision. He could see his path, the path he needed to follow, out of the woods, into civilization and to a warehouse. He wasted no time, and took of, running through the woods, leaving a trail of dust and falling leaves. The two men wore black suits and shades. They sat in a limo with a dark interior and tinted windows, holding a silver briefcase that clearly had some importance. Their vehicle was one of several in a convoy moving towards a secure location. As the drove down the road and up a small hill no one noticed the creature kneeling in the bushes, looking out at them as they drive past. The creature was amazed, it seemed like everything was true, that his dream could come true. There was nothing left to do, but follow...or back out... The group got out of their cars as the gates closed behind them. They were in a large, open car park with the storage buildings around them. All of them wore the same dark suits, and wore the same type of shades. Their leader, the one carrying the case, and sporting a yellow tie, passed the brief case to a man in a lab coat and proceeded to continue walking away. That was until he arrived. The green monster, landed and leaped forward, using one of the minion's neck as a stepping stone to perform a swipe kick in the air, knocking away more men. With one, quick movement, he grabbed the briefcase and knocked away the scientist who crawled away in terror. The group circled him while the two commanders watched. "A Knightmare...?" said the leader's second-in-command "I thought we dealt with all of them..." "They are like cockroaches..." said the man with the blue tie "We need to keep stomping them out...Well...? Stomp it out!" The minions took out rectangular pieces, the placed them on their waists and cables shot out of the side and formed belts. "Henshin..." they all whispered, one after the other. Lines of light shot up and down the belts, glowing from inside their bodies Their buckles and the square pieces on their sides, radiated fields of particles, green square and rectangular pixels that swirled around them and gathered and condensed on their bodies, coating them in a armor. They had green, thick undersuits, beneath, white plates of armor, chest armor, helmets, shoulder guards, cups, thigh armor, shin guards, boots, plated gloves, and forearms protectors which were cylinders with rings on both ends. Their helmets sported two small antennae on their foreheads and large white almond shaped optics. Their buckles had opened in four direction, leaving a sort of cross of green light. All of them took a fighting stance around the creature, who clenched the briefcase tightly. He readied himself for the fight to come. The first attack came from the side, and the monster threw the case into the air, and delivered a punch to his attacker's chest. With a burst of sparks, he laid the rider flat on his back. Noticing the flying jump kicks and punches, he jumped back, dodging them as they left craters in the ground. He landed and charged towards the group throwing a punch. The closest rider turned and punched at him, their fists meeting in a flurry of sparks. Their fists retracted, but while the Rider was in shock, the kaijin used the same fist for an uppercut that sent him flying back wards. The monster charged forward swinging, one, two, three four five, blows to the chest or the face, followed by a side kick to the last one, square in the chest. He was sent flying and rolling across the ground, giving of sparks as the material of his armor reacted to such friction. All the others were flat on their backs, clearly unconscious as their buckles closed and their suits dematerialized. It was now that the suitcase landed behind the monster, the hinges snapping off and the bending of the material forced it open. In black foam was another Rider System, a buckle. The two men looked surprised as the creature reached for it, picked it up and put it on. The cabled and the side pieces came out and formed a belt. "He can't...Sir?! What would that do...?!" "Does it matter, it's not like he can speak the activation code..." "Hen...shin..." said a garbled and barely audible voice to the surprise of the two. The creature spasmed as the glowing lines of energy raced up and down its body, into its limbs. It screamed in pain, as it felt as though it was being ripped apart from the inside, and the men smirked. "Stupid creature, a failure like you could never hope to..." The Buckle opened, emitting a field of pink particles as his body glowed red. The pixels swirled and gathered around him, changing, morphing covering his body, until it was the smaller, more stream line body of a rider. He was like the riders he had just fought, but his undersuit was pink, his armor was red, his eyes were purple and upon his forehead was a crest. It was like an inverted V, point out with in the inside hollow. While his feet were now boots, his hands were still clawed, but metal instead of chitin. The man, the stranger with the red scarf, sat on the sidewalk besides the busy road, enjoying a strawberry ice cream with the cone. He sat on a bench, seemingly forgotten by the driver going by and the pedestrians. Beside him now was another young men, in dark clothes, a dark trench coat and a black scarf. He had pale skin, silver hair, and purple eyes. Then on the other side was a young, well built Asian man...in a batman outfit...a very well made one. He looked at them with a straight face and green, glowing eyes, while the two gave the same expression of 'just why'? "What did you do...?" asked the purple eyed stranger. "Me..." said the gilded eye stranger "I did nothing...but point the way. It is the humans that have erred. "To be fair..." said the cosplayer "It's not exactly their fault they came across the information." "Maybe...but the potential consequences were obvious. They stepped into a domain they had no business in...and unleashed these horrors upon themselves. Now, rather than solve their problem, they are keen to oppose us, the natural order..." "Is that why you created him...?" "I...made nothing...what you see now is the result of two powers, two examples of human folly...coming back to bite them." "So what now...?" "Now...?" "Now we wait and see. I have already closed all the fonts, but more of their 'Knightmares' still lurk out there, ready to wake up. Those self serving bastards are not going to do anything nor, can they sense them...this world needs a Kamen Rider, a real one..." "He just needs to survive first..." said the purple eyed stranger. The two riders looked at him, in shock and horror, while the new rider looked at himself, his arms, his legs, his chest. "Kamen Rider Vream Complete..." said a voice from the belt. "Vream...?" said the new rider. He grabbed his throat. "It worked, it worked, IT WORKED!" His sense jubilee was broken by the whistling of the man wearing the tie, index and thumb to his lips and blowing hard. "That's nice...you're human again..." he said "but your'e still going down." "Why...I'm not..." "I don't care, you were a Knightmare, we're paid to kill your kind and I'm fairly sure the docs back at HQ would love to examine your body..." "Figures..." "Lock... Deal with him..." The other pulled out his rider system and put it on. "Henshin..." he said. He transformed, gaining the armor the minions wore but different. The armor was silvery green, and he bore hollow triangular blades on the side of his arms. His buckle gave of a green light and he flicked his wrist ready to fight. "Kamen Rider Lucid: Complete." said the voice of the belt. With little warning Lucid lunged, flying through the air with a fist aimed at Vream's head. Vream leaned to the side and deflected the blow away, allowing the other rider to fly past and land. The two turned to each other and Vream charged, throwing a punch, which Lucid caught. He pulled his arm to the side twisting it against his chest, before elbowing his arm and elbowing him in the chest, followed by a swipe, the drove his blade against his chest, releasing sparks and an inward kick to his face that sent him stumbling. "What?" said Lucid "Did you think I was another one of those lackeys? We are elites who have taken out several Knightmares in our time..." Vream stroked his cheek, each of those blows had hurt, but then he remembered the pain from before. He slammed his fist into the ground, kicking up dust and chips of cement as he left a small crater and got up. He cracked his knuckles and readied himself, as Lucid flicked his wrist in arrogant assurance. Vream charged again, and threw a punch. Again Lucid caught it, pulled it, and pulled it against his chest, to ready him for another elbow strike. Instead, Vream changed his footing, and pulled his arm free and elbowed him in the face, before continuing with several swing to the face that had Lucid stumbling back. Vream did not relent, he realized now that the strength he had his monstrous form,was now gone. This 'Rider' form, while bringing him back to his humanity, also made him more vulnerable, weaker. He knew he could afford himself no arrogance. He finished his combo with a jump and a punch to Lucid's face, sending him stumbling back and rolling into the side of a building. Lucid was stunned, shocked, as he sat there watching Vream approach him. He turned to see his superior watching him with his arms crossed, an unamused, and something snapped in him. Lucid threw a punch and through that share momentum moved himself onto his feet and delivered a blow to Vream's chest, sending him stumbling back in a burst of sparks. He moved for another punch and Vream through one of his own, the two shouting as their fists connected in sprays of sparks. Both of them stumbled back and both charge for another round. Lucid punched him across the face, and he countered with an uppercut. Lucid stumbled and stepped forward, turning around for a backwards kick to his stomach. Vream, barely blocked it, but was made to stumble, and Lucid continued with a side kick. Vream blocked and countered with a kick of his own, that made him stumbled to the side. Vream chase after him and the two swung punches at each other, hitting the other fighter square in the chest. It stopped being a simple fight and became a competition of endurance, as both were pushing against each other, sparks starting to fly from each fist as the pressure they exerted on the other's armor approached their limits. That was until Vream showed himself superior and pushed Lucid, sending him flying backwards near the gate. Lucid, skid and stopped on the ground and was in shock, he was beaten, he was 'inferior' and that notion...angered him. He looked at Vream, in a fighting stance ready for another round, and was infuriated. No more than some fifteen or so minutes before, he was a Knightmare, a failed experiment, a throw away abomination whose only purpose left in life, was to be exterminated. Now he stood as a Kamen Rider and was...winning. Lucid got up, and slammed his right arm onto the switch on the right side of his belt. Straight and zigzaging lines of energy arced from the belt and up his body to his fist, which glowed with green energy. He threw his punch, and Vream caught it in his hand. It was a mistake. Bolts of energy arced into his body, causing sparks. The entire process was as painful as it seemed and Vream found himself kneeling on the ground in pain. "Knightmare trash...!" shouted Lucid "Die, like the evolutionary dead end you are!" Everything stopped. Time stopped The three strangers stepped out of thin air and surrounded Vream in a triangular formation. The cosplayer was eating ice cream, two in fact, both of numerous colors, but both different. "Evolution...huh?" said the purple eyed stranger. "Such nonsense, but then again, it's to be expected from such pompous things" said the golden eyed one. "Can't we just destroy him and be done..." said the cosplayer. "You know full well that's not how we do things..." He turned to Vream and leaned forward. "Will you accept this, these fools being allowed to do as they wish...? When does this stop, when will it stop...we...leave you to answer that. Now get up, this is not enough to defeat you and you know it. Take your pain, take your rage, and use it..." They were gone and Vream stood up again, clenching his free fist. It glowed and the energy Lucid was releasing gathered there, turning red with the rest of his power. By the time Lucid's attack was finished, it was too late. He could not escape, Vream would not allow it, and when he tried to break free, he instead got a punch to the chest. The energy in his punch released like a beam, of the red pixel energy they used to transform and lines of energy which sported ninety degree angles. Lucid was sent through several buildings before an explosion in the distance signaled his defeat. Vream stood there, partially because he was tired, and partially because he could not believe the kind of power he had just unleashed. His sensation of amazement died down when he heard the sound of clapping. He turned around to see the last of the men in black, clearly amused, and unconcerned with his partner's fate. "Impressive, most impressive..." he said "no doubt, the docs in the lab will want to see how you tick." Vream growled. "Oh, I'm sorry, did you think you had a choice...?" he put his transformation system "Henshin..." The lines and the particles were yellow, but most of the armor was dark. The undersuit was black, and the armor was gunmetal grey, while a spike V shaped crest, rested on his brow. Upon the side of his arms and legs, were arcs, bands of metal that formed spikes on his side. "Kamen Rider Reap Complete." said the belt. "Arms..." he said as he smacked the two panels on the side of his belt. Yellow bolts of energy, the same Lucid used in his attacks, shot out and made for his palms, where they unraveled into pixels and reformed into short handled scythes. Vream tried to be calm, but his stance and posture, gave away his sense of alarm. "What, you thought we just punch things? Opposable thumbs, they are meant for holding things you know..." Reap charged, and lunged, swinging his blade, they struck across the chest and sent Vream rolling back in a spray of sparks. Vream, rolled stopped and looked up. Reap was coming down from the air with his blade, and he stopped their course with his arms, putting them in the path of his fists. Reap grabbed his arms, and punched him in the face, pulling him to his feet stunned, and swung again, this time in the back. The force sent him flying onto his stomach. He skid across the ground. "Get up...!" shouted the man. He wore a Gi, a white jacket and baggy blue pants. In his hand was a wooden sword, in the shape of a Katana. His jaw was strong and define, his hair, black, trimmed and neatly cut, and his eyes fierce. Vream saw him through the eyes of a boy, wearing a similar garb and armed the same, but he was on the ground of the dojo, holding his arm in pain. "Until you are defeated you must get up. Your attacker is not going to be be merciful. If you want to win, you have to get up no matter what, no matter how much it hurts." "I can't...!" shouted the boy. The man threw his katana down and knelt. "You have to get up, sometimes it won't be just emptiness behind you, sometimes it won't be just a wooden stick that you hold. Someday, hopefully never, someone is going to come and take from you, what is yours...if you want to hold on to it...you have to stand up..." Vream came to again and got up and turned around. "Oh..." said Reap "thought you were done..." Vream sat up and got to his knee. He put his hands on the panel on his side and brought his hands front. "Arms..." he said. His buckle shined, and shot out lines of energy that formed a red katana, with a red high tech handle, and a red back to the blade. The edge of the blade itself, was a deep, dark black. Vream took a stance, like someone who knew how to use a sword.Category:Series Category:SolZen321